Well I had to join in ... The challenge is to use neutral colours white / cream ... glitter and silver ... and I adore neutrals ... not to mention glitter

I bought a plain white wicker heart for £3 a while ago with the intention of decorating it for Christmas and this was the perfect chance ... Sorry I forgot to photograph the heart beforehand so I'll show you a photo of the reverse which is just the same

I made a whole bunch of flowers ... from paper, fabric and card and grabbed lots of trinkets I had around and this is the finished version

It's been so difficult to photograph so there are a lot of pictures in the hope you an see the glitter and the little trinkets too

There are glittered and plain silver baubles ... pretty pieces of glass

I made lots of paper roses using sheet music and glittered every one

The snowflake and bell is a Christmas ornament covered in glitter and it sparkles beautifully

Icicles made from earrings

... hand sewn fabric flowers mixed with rolled cardstock flowers

I am really pleased with how this turned out and it looks so pretty hanging on the door

Sunday, November 27, 2011

It's a very windy day here ... in fact a cargo ship has gone down somewhere in the Irish sea due to the weather ... so far 6 people are missing ... Please God they are found well

I have just a little folded tree to share today ... you know those little magazines that the supermarkets and shops are always pushing on us this time of year ... well I kinda up-cycled one

So easy to do whilst watching TV or listening to the radio

Are you seeing the glitter?

And what about a few little snowy tags to go with it ...

Yes I've been playing around with my new Silhouette Cameo to make these tags ...

I have to confess that at first there was a lot of CS in the bin ... and I was getting very frustrated with it all ... No matter what I did it just wasn't cutting properly .. or I couldn't get anything off the mat without destroying everything completely!

It is a simple machine to use and the tutorials are very good and I've no doubt that with practice I will come to love it as much as I do my Big Shot ...

I think the problem is that never having had one of these electronic machines .. I was a bit wary and a great deal of the result has to do with the mat or rather the stickiness of it .. brand new it is extremely sticky and none of the tutorials show you what to do when CS gets chewed. Ok they want to sell their machines so all the good points are covered ... but just sometimes it would be helpful to reveal some of the problems that can occur so someone like me doesn't feel a complete idiot!

Would I recommend it? Yes I would ... it suits my needs ... the freedom to be able to order exactly what I want without buying a full cartridge ... and I love that I can design everything on my computer screen ... so much easier for me to see ... so I'll keep practicing and be a little more confident

Wednesday, November 23, 2011

First of all ... Thank You to all of you lovely people who gave me feedback on cutting machines ... and those of you didn't own one but were so kind as to leave me a comment or pass on info from your friends

I really appreciate it ... You guys are the Best!

The vote went to the Silhouette Cameo and it has been ordered and should arrive today!

You may have noticed that my CS also has a subtle flourish pattern to it .. well here in the UK I find it difficult to buy kraft CS ... I have sourced it from SU in the past and PaperMania are now doing pre-cut cards and envelopes in Kraft ... but I bought the Organic Range of digital Papers from Pink Petticoat...a fabulous set of kraft coloured papers which I can print as and when onto my white card stock, like here ... then I ran it back through the printer using Pink Petticoat Flourishes digital paper in Willow...

These papers are very versatile ... worth taking a look

Ok ... so I have more work to do so I'll bid you good day and hope you find your peace today

Tuesday, November 22, 2011

Today's challenge at City Crafter is hosted by our creator Kirsty and she has set us the challenge of a Pink Christmas Card ... this is the lovely inspiration photo ...

I chose to make another pocket card ... I know you're probably bored of them ... But I just love them and they are so easy and economical

This is kind of girlie and cute

I found these papers in one of my cupboards ... must have had them for a long time and forgotten about them

This week we have Lynette Jacob Guest Designing for us and Pixie Dust Paperie is kindly sponsoring us again ... So if you haven't made a start on your Christmas cards why not come and join us this week ... and if you have ... well you can never have too many huh? Here are the links to the DT if you are looking for inspiration

Sunday, November 20, 2011

I had for the longest time been contemplating buying an electronic cutting machine ... not least of all because of the stunning projects I see you guys sharing ... but preparing a project each week for a large group of special needs adults - men and women ... it is very time consuming cutting out 30 of this 30 of that etc., after seeing my friend's Cricut Expression in action ... I relented. These machines are not cheap here in the UK ... and the model I finally decided on was £440 ... about $695 ... Sure it came with a couple of cartridges as they are about £40 each ... that was a bonus ... But one of these did not work .. no worries ... a phone call confirmed that I could return it for a replacement ...

Now, over the years I have bought many PDF files and digitals images ... from many of you ... So I thought I now could buy (very inexpensively) SVG files instead ... after all when I want 60 pieces of holly for example ... I'm not going to buy a £40 cartridge for one item ... so reading up till late last night ... watching your brilliant tutorials and tuition ... I then realised I needed SCAL ... no problem I could buy that too ...

Imagine my disappointment when I learnt after several hours of searching ... that Provo Craft in their "wisdom??" have put an end to SCAL for Cricut machines ... I guess they want us to buy just their cartridges ...

Well that decided me ... and now my Cricut Expressions is all packed up and ready to be collected for a full refund ... But it still leaves me with with a dilemma of what I should now go for ...

That's where I need your help ... I have watched videos, tutorials read up on articles and reviews till my head aches! Silhoutte, Eclips, ECraft ... what do I do?

Please ... if you own a die cutting machine that is supported by SCAL ... that allows me to use SVG flies from my Imac ... that you find efficient and easy (ish) to use ... can you let me know?

Saturday, November 19, 2011

The sun is shining here and the temperature is expected to be 14deg C ... so not bad for November in the UK ...

I got my first Christmas card yesterday ... from my lovely friend Terrie Bailey ... if you haven't seen her unique style .. where have you been? ...

Thanks so much Terrie ... I love it!

I have made lots of cards ... but when it comes to writing in them and organising the posting ... oooh ... that's where I fall down ... I dither about which one to send to who etc ... I really should make them all the same ...

I also got a sweet little tag ornament this week all the way from New Orleans from my lovely friend Cindy Adkins...

It's so delicate ... many thanks Cindy

I'm getting into the Christmas mood now and this year I have seen some lovely little ornaments in the stores ... here are some I picked out

I couldn't resist this ...

Nor this ...

... it's so shabby and gorgeous ... and what about this ...

... How's that for a chandelier! But in miniature ...

I'm in the midst of preparing 30 Christmas pocket cards for my group ... next week is our last week for crafting ... so they are going to 'make' these cards plus I have a large candle for each of them to decorate ... hopefully we will have time to decorate a lunch bag to put their goodies into ... then I can relax until the New Year where the club is concerned ... boy they are soooo excited about Christmas

Wednesday, November 16, 2011

A few weeks ago Tracy from Papercraft Star contacted me and asked if I would like to Guest Design for them ... Would I!!!

I am thrilled and honoured to join this team of wonderfully talented ladies this week ...

Take a look at this inspirational photo ...

Isn't that something?

The challenge is to make a Thank You card ... Well, this picture so inspired me I made a card and a little something to go with it ...

... a little "Pumpkin" pin cushion ...

I love working with neutral earthy colours and the pumpkin just evolved ... using burlap glued to CS which I hand cut to shape and added twine to give it more 'shape' ... I'm not sure if you can see but it is all glittery too ...

For the pumpkin I used a styrofoam ball ... I cut the bottom off so it would stand ... then covered it in the same burlap, twine and glitter and a stem made from corrugated cardboard

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All content except where stated (including text, photographs and designs) are the copyright of Ros Crawford (Mikeys Mom). My artwork is shared for personal inspiration only and may not be copied for publication or contest entry.